King’s murder revealed America’s real intentions toward Black citizens.

Evidence

The film makes plain the lessons about the domestication of King’s witness and the broader insight gained from the failures and losses of the sixties revolution. “[The sixties] clarified, once and forever and in the sight of all the world,” Baldwin maintained, “the real intention of our co-citizens towards us. When Martin’s head was blown off we learned something.” The scales fell from our eyes and our faith in American democracy, so Baldwin believed, was profoundly shaken. King’s murder and the tragic consequences for those who survived it was not the work of some lone madman; indeed, this was America. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Begin Again, 470

Categorization

• XREF: This ‘scales fell from our eyes’ moment anchors the reader’s argument about the post-1968 Baldwin: the murder as epistemic rupture ending faith in American democracy.